Foam has been used extensively as a packing and supporting material. In the surgical instrument field, foam has been provided in sheets and slabs as a base upon which medical instruments may rest and, in particular, the foam may be molded or carved during its manufacture into channels corresponding with the shape of the particular instrument being supported.
In the surgical supply field, reticulated foam has been known as a material which will withstand sterilization processes and resist the generation of particles in air suspension, dust, and other aerosols which might contaminate an operating room sterile field.
It is also generally known that in the packaging field, particularly for camera equipment, that slabs of foam material may be perforated or formed into multiple fingers which may be selectively cut and removed by the user to form custom-shaped channels to hold and contain that equipment. In one such example, these fingers are formed by a grid of intersecting slices cutting a preselected depth into a slab of foam material whereby multiple rows and columns of fingers are formed which may be cut-off at their base to create channels corresponding with the shape of the object intended to be held. One difficulty encountered in creating these customized channels was the difficulty in evenly and smoothly cutting off one of these foam fingers at its base in order to create a channel having a smooth and uniform bottom.
There has been a long-felt need in the surgical supply industry for an apparatus and method of positioning, storing, sterilizing, and accounting instruments used in surgery that may be easily and readily adapted to support and contain instruments of a variety of shapes and sizes associated with a selected surgical procedure.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to create an easily-manufactured slab of foam which may be used within the sterile field of a hospital operating room which has easily detachable fingers for creating custom-shaped channels with a smooth and uniform bottom.